home stretch. parking lots at the mall and the highways looked about the same today. welcome to the weekend before christmas. good evening, everyone.

was it punishment for procrastinators? they had hide winds and chilly temperatures to deal with as they headed out to the malls today. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here. chuck, will it be any better out there tomorrow is the question? >> absolutely right. tomorrow looks like a much more pleasant day to be in the great outdoors than your saturday turned into. what a wind event we had today. winds gusting between 40 and 50 miles an hour at nearly every reporting station in the viewing area. currently winds are dying down but as a result the temperatures are plummeting, back down into the low and mid-30s right now. luckily the wind gust map is considerably tamer than it was earlier. winds gusting at 15 to 20 miles per hour but that means windchil windchills back down into the low 20s so it will be a cold start to your sunday. a very busy upcoming christmas week weatherwise. we'll give you the seven-day

coming up. a lot of people spent this cold, windy saturday at the mall. we're going to show you the scene at westfield, montgomery, ball in bethesda. long lines, a lot of traffic and very few parking spaces. thankfully there was some help on hand to keep things moving smoothly, complete with some dance moves as well as a good sense of humor there and time is running out for all you procrastinators out there. but a lot of stores have extended hours over the next few days. some are even staying open around the clock until christmas eve. darcy spencer is live tonight at tyson's corner where there are still some people shopping at this hour, two minutes after 11:00, darcy. >> reporter: that's right. this assignment wasn't too bad because we got to spend most of our evening inside the mall where it was nice and warm. i was in macy's here just a few minutes ago checking out the scene. no personal shopping, of course. it is still packed inside there. people looking for these super saturday deals. for some shoppers we talked to

today, it was an all-day affair. tyson's corner is packed with shoppers just three days before christmas. gayle pendleton is shopping with her granddaughter, zoe. they spent more than eight hours at the mall. >> this is my first time being here and i just love it. we just decided to come down to tyson's this morning and we've been here all day just shopping. we went to the other side of the mall just shopping around, trying to find last-minute gifts. >> reporter: retailers are staying open late and slashing prices to lure customers in. that worked for angelica bravo, who also spent the day at the mall. >> do you think it's going to be a pretty successful year based on what you've seen for retail? >> absolutely, yes. i think a lot of retail stores had great sales and it's encouraging people to buy more. so boost our economy hopefully. >> reporter: erica hart says she did most of her shopping in new york. tonight she was guarding the bags while her mom grabbed a cup of coffee. she and other shoppers tell us just finding a parking space was half the battle. >> it's been kind of crazy. it took my mom an hour and a

half to find a parking space. so it's been kind of crazy and seeing everybody and running into old friends. it's been kind of overwhelming. but fun. >> reporter: a poll released this week by consumer reports found 132 million people are not done shopping. 26 million have yet to start. and 17 million plan to shop christmas eve. some of the shoppers we talked to tonight say it doesn't matter when you buy your gifts, as long as they're there under the tree in time. >> i have two more days of shopping. so, you know, as long as christmas morning the kids are happy, the wife is happy, you know, it will be a success. >> reporter: and that's all that matters. now, some stores like toys r us evened the macy's here at tyson's corner are going to be staying open around the clock until christmas eve. even though you've waited until the last minute, some of the shoppers are filing out at this hour, there's still time and still stores remaining open for you. reporting live, darcy spencer,

news 4. >> oh, daerrcy, i'm exhausted jt watching that rt eport. >> upstate new york digging out from its first major storm system of the year. part of the same system that snarled air traffic in chicago and caused power outages from michigan to maine. some ski resorts in western new york have gotten more than a foot of snow in the past couple of days and more could be on the way to places like buffalo, where snow is in the forecast for christmas eve and christmas day. around here, it wasn't the snow, but the wind that caused some problems for travelers. there was some sporadic delays at dulles and reagan earlier in the day, but both airports say everything is moving again tonight. still, it's always a good idea to check with your carrier before you head out to the airport. trains were crowded on amtrak today, but the rail service reported no significant delays going in or out of union station. the rail service is adding cars to many of their trains, but they don't plan to add any additional service for the

christmas holiday. and to the roads now, traffic is still heavy at this hour. this is a live look at i-95 near maryland 100. cars moving at a snail's pace tonight. 93 million americans are expected to hit the roads for the holidays, so pack your patience if you're one of them. it could be the end for jack's boat house on the georgetown waterfront. the national park service asked the canoe and kayak rental company to move out by the end of january. the man who operates the facility says he got a notification letter from the park service on wednesday. he says the boat house technically has no lease, but it's been operating out of the same location on the potomac since the 1940s. he says he plans to fight the request. family of four is safe but forced out of their home tonight after a fire breaks out in montgomery county. this was the aftermath around 6:15 on camille drive in potomac. firefighters say it looks like the fire started in the garage,

but no word on what sparked it. now a story you'll see only on news 4. a fedex driver rocked at gunpoint. his packages unloaded just days before christmas. the robbery happened this morning on high wood street in southeast. just minutes after getting his own delivery, pastor willie wilson went outside and found the fedex driver lying face down. he said he thought the driver had been knocked out or shot. >> then i said, hey, are you all right? then he raised up and he said i thought i was still being rocked. >> reporter: sources tell news 4 the suspects forced the driver to the ground the at gun point, then loaded some packages into a car, possibly a taxi. the driver was shaken up but he wasn't seriously hurt. after two days of services here in washington, hawaii is saying goodbye to the late senator daniel inouye. a public viewing is under way right now at the hawaii state capitol in honolulu. meanwhile senator majority leader harry reid is asking hawaii's governor to act quickly

to fill his seat. reid is asking for the vacancy to be filled before the end of the year. he served in the senate more than 50 years. he died on monday at the age of 88. president obama will attend a memorial service for the late senator tomorrow. he's in hawaii with the rest of the first family for their annual holiday trip. they arrived early this morning. they're expected to spend christmas on the island. the president kicked off his vacation with a round of golf this afternoon. aides say it will be a short vacation, though, for the president. he's expected to return to washington right after christmas to work on a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. last night the president urged lawmakers to use their time off to think about a solution. he recently called for a smaller deal that would extend unemployment and prevent tax hikes on the middle class. the fiscal cliff deadline is jab 1st. if no deal is reach by then, income taxes will go up for everyone.

it appears that former president george h.w. bush may not make it home from the hospital in time for christmas. the statement released tonight says mr. bush had a few low energy days and he'll stay in the hospital a little longer just adds a precaution, they say. the 41st president has been in the hospital since just after thanksgiving. he was initially admitted for a nasty cough braunbronchitis. still ahead a call for stricter gun control in the wake of the tragedy in newtow

the nra argued this week that more guns in schools in the hands of trained professionals could protect america's children. you can see an exclusive interview with the wayne la pierre tomorrow morning on "meet the press" at 10:30 right here on nbc 4. well, what's your excuse? ahead tonight some of the surprising things people will tell their bosses to get the day off from work. plus no more wind. it's now just

if you've ever told a little white lie to your boss to get some time off, apparently you're not alone. a new survey of 500 full-time workers found nearly half of them have called out sick when they were really just playing hooky. 27% say they have used jury duty as an excuse. about the same amount said they have lied about a death in the family to rack up some extra vacation days. even if you fool the boss, you're not fooling your colleagues. when someone calls out sick, 72% of their co-workers think they're faking it. oops. now, you call out sick -- >> all the time. >> and it's very difficult, because you do weather morning, noon and night. >> yeah. it's tricky business around here. you always feel bad for us, we work in such a small department. if you call in sick, you're really sticking it to one of your co-workers who have to come in here.

you better be sick is the usual rule around here. today what a day best spent to just stay inside today. it was windy outside and luckily the winds have faded out just a bit but, wow, that is really allowing the temperatures to drop off very dramatically. so be ready for one of the colder starts we've had to worry about. for now, though, a quiet saturday night. wind continuing to fade with the setting of the sun a couple of hours ago. still breezy out there so i don't want you to be misled. if you're taking the dog around the block, you still need the winter jacket for sure. 45 our high temperature today. 39 was our low early this morning, but our current temperature is now 35. so that will be down to the low for the day. look at those peak wind gusts. earlier today reagan national 43 miles per hour, dulles international 51. bwi thurgood marshall, a44-mile-per-hour peak wind gust. wind out of the west averaging 8 miles per hour. that's good news for sure.

a little wind energy left across parts of northern maryland and the panhandle of west virginia so windchill values are back down into the low 20s in maryland and near freezing windchills down to the south of the city. redskins forecast on the road in philadelphia tomorrow. 1:00 game. temperatures low to mid-40s, plenty of sunshine but chilly. and the ravens are at home playing the new york football giants. temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s. it's a 4:00 kickoff, so 43 at kickoff time and 38 by the time that game is over. no matter which team you're supporting tomorrow, it will be good, dry football weather for both games. the storm continues to move further and further away. good riddance to it. high pressure biwill take its place for tomorrow. it will feel like winter for sure but plenty of sunshine coming our way tomorrow courtesy of that big ridge of high pressure. as it moves away, the cold air is in place. next storm system mostly going to our north and west. here we are at noon on monday.

might be a little rain/snow mix, especially to the north and west of town. should be mostly if not entirely a rain event right along i-95 but you folks north and west may have to worry a little about some snow showers coming up on your monday. so for the rest of tonight, just simply cold. temperatures in the 30s for now. 20s by morning time. then tomorrow mostly sunny. seasonably chilly. temperatures in the mid to upper 40s tomorrow. still watching out for monday. that's christmas eve. could be a little tricky around here for some travel but nothing major. now, that wednesday night into thursday, that's a little bigger system, a little more cold air in it and we may need to watch that one a little bit closer. doesn't look like a blizzard yet. >> thanks, chuck. coming up in sports, big upda

kcarol, rg3 must be happy tonight. >> we have some new news. it's progressed just as he expected. looked good, no swelling, set to play. >> you're talking about the knee. >> yesterday very, very likely. no swelling on the knee. and today it's a definite. as expected, doctors have cleared robert griffin to play tomorrow, according to a league source. that means griffin will be back in uniform and back on the field for the redskins games versus the eagles. griffin looked at no limitations in three full days of practice this week. he's been nursing a sprained right knee that kept him sidelined last weekend in cleveland. mike shanahan said he was waiting for the doctor's good word before declaring griffin back as the starter. the redskins are in the hunt for the nfc east title after five straight wins. rg3 has helped get them this far and he wants to go all the way.

>> we came back from the bye with one mission an that's the mission we're still on. we control our destiny and do what we're supposed to do. we won. that's what we have to continue to do. guys can't get happy now. we've still got one game and then another game after that. >> skins kick off at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow. meantime the wizards trying to pull off a turn-around of their own. last night they lost to the pistons by 32 points. worst defeat of the year. but that was in detroit. tonight they host the pistons at verizon center. randy wittman happy to get nene and brad he bealman back in the huddle. webster misses the three. cartier martin save it. that's brandon knight saying thank you very much, taking it the other way. pistons up 20-6. second quarter, detroit up 15. rodney stuckey throws the oop for charlie villanueva. pistons making it look easy.

jordan crawford taking it the other go goes in between the "d" for the layup. wizards welcome back seven. later in the fourth, pistons up 11 off the inbounds. stuckey pulls up for the "j." swish! 18 points for stuckey. it's not a 32-point loss like last night but it is still painful. 96-87 the final score. >> this was such a different game than last night. the outcome is the same, obviously, and that's the bottom line, i know that. you know, i've got to continue to mix guys. you know, i liked what i saw, you know, from this group and, you know, we'll keep -- we'll keep plugging along. >> verizon center cut its losses earlier in the day during a matchup of two local college teams. the georgetown hoyas hosting american. g-town hasn't lost to their d.c. neighbor in 30 years. jack the bulldog, he was fired up for this one. no matter the streak or what.

pick it up first half, american trails by eight. daniel munoz the ball, dribbles around the screen, lets it fly. tough move, gets it to go. munoz led the eagles with 15. american cuts the lead to six. hoyas up big, 18 points. porter from behind the arc lets it go and he sinks it. the three-ball from the wing. 16 points and 13 boards for porter. au on the break. austin carroll the three, the miss. hoyas off and running. the alley-oop, georgetown wraps up their nonconference schedule with their seventh win in a row, 65-48. george mason down to richmond taking on the spiders in the governor's holiday hoops classic. richmond led most of the way. under 2:00 to go we pick it up. only up one, it's cory edwards with the floater. missed it and the put-back. patriots take their first lead of the game here 63-62. under 30 left. derrick williams can't make the

three but cedric lindsay throws up a shot as he's falling down. it falls in and ties it at 64. 5.8 off the inbounds. edwards has got it, he's going to try to make something happen. he sees wright spotting up. three-pointer at the buzzer. he nails it! 22 points for wright. none bigger than that one. what a thriller. 67-64 the final. game two of the governor's holiday hoops classic, old kmin 81 taking on uva. odu trailing most of this one, only down three. batten for three. he's feeling it. 23 points for that sophomore. ties it at 24. under 10 to play, monarchs up three. jones penetrates, breaks outside the arc. he lets it go and that should tie it up but the refs say it was only a two. so it was worth two points. dante hill at the line for old dominion misses it.

they can win it with a three. oh, joe harris gets the ball knocked loose and old dominion pulls off a huge upset, 63-61. virginia has an eight-game winning streak snapped. that's only the second win for the monarchs, so that's why it's such a big upset. >> that's big. all right, carol, thank you. that's our news for tonight. "saturday night live" is coming up next. have a great night, everybody. stay warm and we'll see you tomorrow.

good evening from hofstra university in hempstead, new york. i'm candy crowley from cnn state of the union. [ applause ] welcome to the second presidential debate. tonight's debate is a town hall, and our audience is 82 undecided